Scotland welcomes 1,000th Syrian refugee

Equalities secretary praises Scottish local authorities’ response to migration crisis and urges Westminster to do more

Scotland has welcomed its 1,000th Syrian refugee, almost exactly a year after the image of three-year-old Alan Kurdi’s drowned corpse washed up on a Turkish beach galvanised the global response to the humanitarian crisis.

The milestone, which was reached after 120 refugees arrived in Scotland in the past week, means that Scotland has taken about a third of the total number of Syrian refugees who have come to the UK since last October.